Editorial
On my first day of Mathayom 3, aged 14, at my all girl’s Catholic school here in Chiang Mai, our class teacher lined us up at the front of the class, all pigtailed and pony-haired forty-four of us, and announced the implementation of a new system for the remainder of the year. The twenty Clever Students, she said, would sit paired up with the twenty Not Clever Students. Since I was the bane of my … Continued
What’s Happening?
June, 2009. 5th-28th June INNER REFLECTION @ Chiang Mai University Art Centre 053 218 280 Art exhibition by Ruengrit Treyanurak with the concept of human faces painted in expressionist style. The opening will take place on 5th June, 6 p.m. This exhibition will be on view Tuesdays – Sundays from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and public holidays. 10th-30th June THE 5TH INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL 20 … Continued
Discussing Thai Education with Associate Professor Prathoomporn Vajarasthira
June, 2009. Associate Professor Prathoomporn Vajarasthira is a special lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok as well as several higher education institutes in Thailand. Her political novels have won awards, and she has published numerous travelogues, novels and history books as well as currently working on a book about Bangkok. She was, for many years, … Continued
History of Thai Education
June, 2009. In his book ‘The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe’ Ernest Young wrote in 1898, ‘until very recently the only schools were those in connection with the monasteries. In these schools reading and writing were taught by the priests…it must never be forgotten that most Siamese men can read and write their own language and that the country owes a deep debt of gratitude to these monks…’ As Latin an … Continued
Return to The Elephant Isle
June, 2009. Koh Chang, the second largest island in Thailand after Samui, almost a decade ago, was closer in resemblance to a Robert Louis Stevenson island than the carnival beach paradise it is now. In those days the quiet beaches were studded with bamboo huts and collapsed Khao Sarn backpackers, you could budget your way through a month on ten dollars a day happily unaware that your Beer Chang t … Continued
Chiang Mai’s Korean Seoul
June, 2009. “You cannot ‘love’ chocolate in Korea,” ajarn Shim explained as he deftly fried another mosquito with his zapper racket. “The word ‘love’ can only be applied to a very special person.” Looking around the language class at the Korean Cultural Centre, I wondered if that applied to the armies of Thais who are having a very obvious love affair with all things Korean. But why is this? Why a … Continued
Surfin’Lessons
June, 2009. We’ve had ‘proxy governments’ in Thailand, why not have proxy internet too. In fact, Thailand’s great Orwellian Ministry of Virtue would rather we not sully our values with this slanderous internet thingy, and are efficiently spending lots of our tax money on blocking all those nasty websites that say bad things about, well, saying bad things. That’s why we’re going to take a page out … Continued
City Vibes
June, 2009. American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan, also known as ‘Smog’ has written one of the year’s best albums. ‘Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle’ is effortlessly brilliant, Callahan’s emotive, baritone voice and deep, personal lyrics hang on repetitive drum beats and flotsam melodies, at times warped (‘Invocation of Ratiocination’), always beautiful. Tracks such as ‘Faith-Void’ and ‘My Fri … Continued
A Retiring Attitude
June, 2009. We currently have a guest from the U.S. a Thai, married to an American. She, like so many Thais of her generation, has been living abroad for decades. She first left Thailand to study in the U.S., fell in love, got married, had children, became an American citizen, had grandchildren, and eventually grew older. Joint pain that her American doctors have not been able to help her with bro … Continued
Chiang Mai on the WWW
www.abotrading.co.th June, 2009. ABO Trading has been open in Chiang Mai since 2005 but is finally entering the internet world with their stylish duo website for ABO Design and ABO Solar. This website lays out their extensive selection of solar lighting, quality teak wood and stainless steel outdoor furniture. ABO Design hosts 21 different collections of outdoor furniture with dramatically differe … Continued
Community Services
June, 2009. Elephant Nature Foundation seeks to increase standards in the mahout (or elephant keeper) profession, to ultimately benefit the lives of working elephants as well as the people involved. They have recently launched an ESL programme for mahouts, and are looking for teachers to come out and help. There is a small budget available for staffing, but this would be a part-time or voluntary p … Continued
Cultural Inside
June, 2009. Wood, William Alfred Rae CMG CIE Was born 23 January 1878 and died on 21 January 1970, at 91. It would seem clear that W.A.R.Wood ranks as the most distinguished of all British Consuls at Chiang Mai. He was born near Liverpool where his father was in business, and was the only boy in a family of eight children. When he was young his father opened a branch office in Belgium and there he … Continued
Ten Years ago
Citylife (which changed its name from the Chiang Mai Newsletter in 2002) has been in publication for over seventeen years. Let’s look back at what we wrote 10 years ago. June, 2009. Excerpts from an interesting article by Dr. Frank Kelly (deceased) titled Where Pragmatism Rules Cycling down Suthep Road to the traffic lights at the canal. Lined up abreast, waiting for the lights to change: a big tr … Continued
Your Say
[right]Your say is an open forum for you the reader to express your opinions. Write to: editor@chiangmaicitylife.com, subject: Your say. Letters can be on any subject and priority will be given to letters under 200 words.Letters may be edited for clarity or conciseness. Name and contact details must be supplied.[/right] June, 2009. Tips in Thailand We had the great opportunity to visit your beauti … Continued
This is Thailand
June, 2009. 1) Which Thai consulates have been known to accommodate the ‘visa on a separate sheet’ request? Hugh: Specific questions like this one are hard to answer unless we have had the same problem. I have never needed a ‘visa on a separate sheet’ – where a visa is issued on a sheet of paper and stapled into the passport instead of stamped in the passport itself. It is often used when you don’ … Continued
City Buzz
It’s official; Xanadu offers the best rooftop view in Chiang Mai. Xanadu, on the 17th floor of Hillside 5, just off Huay Kaew Road, is a bar and restaurant with live music crooning in the background while you sit back and enjoy the 180% panoramic views of Doi Suthep. The best time to arrive is about an hour before dark, so you can thoroughly enjoy the sunset views while drinking down your beverage … Continued
Thirst for Knowledge: Never Too Old to Learn
June, 2009. James Course: IGroom Dog Grooming Certificate Objective: Get to grips with styling narcissistic canines Learning Outcomes: I didn’t have 180 hours, the time it takes to acquire the certification to open your own dog salon. I did however have two hours, the time it takes to do a bit of trimming, styling and nail cutting. The customers all seemed quite pleasant, if not a little bit over … Continued
OPTIONS FOR THE LITTLE ONES: English Nurseries and Kindergartens in Chiang Mai
June, 2009. [u] Bilingual Schools [/u] Little Stars Little Stars has classes from preschool to K2, ages for one and a half to five year olds based on mixed curriculum with all native speaking teachers. Tuition is 29,000B/term for under three and 27,500B/term for above three with a one time enrolment fee of 4,500B. 31 Soi 13 Sirimangkalajan Road Tel: 053 222145 littlestars-preschool@hotmail.com www … Continued
Special Scoop
June, 2009. “We studied what was needed by looking at what was currently available in Chiang Mai and pioneered our own English Programme” – Mrs. Varee Patravanich, Managing Director. Choosing a child’s education is always one of parents’ toughest decisions to make. Because education is of such importance in the development of a child as well as being an investment in that child’s future, it is the … Continued
Being Thai 101
June, 2009. Last year an Australian friend of mine, who has been a teacher in Thailand for ten years, was informed that the Minister of Education required her to take a Thai cultural course followed by the passing of an exam in order for her to retain her teaching license. This all sounded good and fair to me and I told her to stop grumbling and get on with it. A few weeks later as we were catchin … Continued